Eye of the Hurricane
by Cearta Day
Summary: HIATUS He bent down and whispered in the boy's ear, "Think as much as you want, but the truth is there's no difference between you and I."
1. The Swap

Summary: At the brink of war, the Chosen Children put their faith in a new strategy: Defeating the enemy from the inside out, but when the lines between good and evil begin to blur, the inside is the last place you want to be.

Ages: Joe (19), Tai, Matt, and Sora (18), Izzy and Mimi (17), Yolei and Ken (15), Davis, TK, and Kari (14), Cody (11).

* * *

_June 10, 2005_

_Izzy wants us all to keep a record of our exploits in the Digital World, so that's the only reason I'm writing this. Not that I don't like writing! I actually dabble with it in my free time, or you know, when I'm not fighting monsters or training._

_Anyway as far as exploits go there's not much to say yet. We settled down at Gennai's house in the Digital World a few weeks ago, and everyone's just getting used to it. We all miss our family and friends, but they don't understand our responsibility to defend as Chosen Children especially in a time of war like this. We can't head home until our mission is complete._

_I don't remember the last time all twelve of us have been together like this, but it won't last long. Tomorrow a few of us head off to set up different bases. I just hope they let me go; nothing's worse than sitting around feeling useless._

_Signed,_

_Takeru Takaishi_

* * *

"Matt, please! You_ have_ to let me go!"

The older brother continued scooping up his cereal, watching the milk swirl around. "I have to?"

"Yes!" TK leaned across the table practically shoving his neatly folded hands and puppy dog eyes in Matt's face.

Unfortunately, after years of wavering on his knees at the sight, he had become immune to those eyes. "Sorry, Kid. Your ankle's not fully healed." With that, he stood up and brought his empty bowl and spoon to the sink, TK hobbling close behind in what truly was a pathetic sight.

"My ankle's fine!" The younger brother insisted although the aforementioned foot was still suspended well above the ground.

Matt retreated from the sink bumping TK's ankle in the process. TK promptly bent down to grab it and bit his tongue while letting out a grunt of pain. "See that wouldn't hurt if you were fine," Matt said coolly.

TK scooted back until he ran into the island which he then used for support. He had injured (According to Joe, it was a grade two sprain) his ankle a couple weeks ago when a fluke had happened causing him to fall off Pegasusmon at just the right angle to roll his ankle and had been forbidden from doing just about everything ever since.

Joe, Sora, and Tai all entered the kitchen looking more or less ready for what today was going to bring. TK's hopes brightened a bit; admittedly, without his parents around his brother did have some sort of authority over him, but the others deserved some kind of say.

"Hey, can I help set up the new bases?" TK asked in the best innocently sweet voice the fourteen year old could muster. The responses were quicker than expected.

"No," Joe stated firmly while looking over his patient.

"No!" Sora exclaimed shocked at the notion.

"Oh hell no," Tai finalized.

TK resisted the urge to smack his head against the island. "What am I going to do stuck here alone at Gennai's?"

"You won't be alone. You'll be helping Izzy," Sora assured as she snatched the box of cereal Matt had left on the table and went to get herself a bowl.

"But I never know what he's saying," TK grumbled. This was something they could all relate to; only Yolei and Ken could understand Izzy when he went on, what the other chosen liked to call, his Prodigious Rants because they tend to lose him right after that word.

Tai asked Sora to get a bowl for him to as Joe suggested, "I could use some help today too."

"You're not setting up a base?"

He shook his head. "No way, with what we're getting ourselves into, I'll be preparing all of our medical necessities. You should know; you were my first customer."

TK grinned sheepishly as Tai exclaimed, "I thought you were going! Now I have to change the teams around… Cody and Joe were going to set up the base in the west since they could cross the ocean. I guess Kari could take Joe's place since she could fly over the ocean. That means Palmon would have to digivolve to Lillymon, so she could fly, and Mimi could go along with Sora to the south which leaves me, Matt, and Davis to take the north."

"…Wow," Matt uttered.

"What?"

He headed to exit the kitchen and get ready for the day. "Honestly I didn't know you put that much thought into it."

Over the years Tai had gotten a lot better about strategizing and not rushing into situations. He knew his team well and had worked out a good dynamic. Through everything, the twelve of them really had blended into one team, and now being the only thing each other has, a family.

000

Patamon's round eyes watched his partner's pencil as it tapped on the desk, his head facedown. "TK?" He tried, "TK!"

The blonde turned his head towards the small creature and smiled slightly. "Yeah, Pata?"

"Are you mad at me?"

TK was slightly confused before realizing he meant his ankle. "No, of course not; it wasn't your fault. I'm just bored and annoyed because I can't help… and I hate this game." He glared down at the Sudoku puzzle he'd been resting his head on. Various puzzles and riddles were Joe's way of keeping his patient busy, but TK could only focus for so long before his mind drifted to how everyone else was being productive right now.

"You two could help, you know."

They both turned to see Yolei standing in the doorway with a slightly irritated expression. "We're not doing anything technology related, just planning which I'd hope you know a lot about by now."

Yolei led the two to what had been dubbed Izzy's office because it was housing his pineapple laptop and he'd filled the room to the brim with various notes, cables, and wires. They entered to find Izzy and Ken in a heated debate.

"There are plenty of other options," Ken insisted.

Izzy paced back and forth, one hand to his chin. "None as foolproof as this."

"It's not foolproof; it's risky!"

Izzy stopped dead in his tracks. "It's the best chance we've got!"

TK cut in, "What is?" He, Patamon, and Yolei filed in taking seats by Ken at the table. Izzy remained standing as he explained.

"As you all know, the dark side's leader is Beelzemon who's trying to build up the strongest army he can to help him gain control over the Digital World. With how much power our digimon possess, he would never turn down a Chosen Child in his ranks."

"He's not going to believe any of us switched sides!" Yolei interrupted.

"Precisely," he continued, "unless they didn't switch sides of their own accord. That's where Ken comes in. We convince Beelzemon and his crew that Ken's dark spore has reactivated. They'll take him in with no clue that he's a double agent feeding us information and sabotaging their plans."

"What if he figures Ken out?" Yolei asked with a worried expression.

"Not to worry, we'll be in constant contact with him. If anything goes wrong, the rest of us can be there in a minute."

Ken crinkled his nose and trained his eyes on the table. "I still don't believe this'll work."

Izzy raised an eyebrow. Normally Ken had faith in all of Izzy's ideas with good reason considering all the jams they had gotten them out of. He faced TK. "What do you think?"

The blonde didn't answer for several moments as he thought over the plan. If anyone even had a chance of infiltrating the enemy's army it was Ken but not if he was going to be so against it. It made perfect sense to him, and they needed to act fast before their situation escalated into an all out war. TK shrugged and admitted, "Someone on the inside may be our only chance."

"Seems you're out numbered, Ken," Izzy said matter-of-factly.

Ken stood up suddenly, a stone cold look on his face. "Fine, I'll do it." As he walked out, TK noticed something the others didn't: the downright terrified look in Ken's eyes.

000

Joe looked over his notes. "Well your ankle is coming along nicely. I think you'll be up and running again in a couple of days."

"Great!" TK exclaimed as he hopped off the side of the 'hospital bed.' He had to admit Joe had set up an impressive area for his medical supplies. The Chosen Children were in good hands.

"So how's Ken?" Joe asked casually as he returned his supplies to their designated spots.

TK's mood instantly darkened. "Oh, he's alright. Kind of nervous about the plan, but we've been working with him. I'm sure he'll be ready when it's time."

Joe stuck his head in a cupboard. "I know I could never do what he's doing. Just looking at Beelzemon gives me the creeps!"

TK smirked. "Looking at _Numemon_ gives you the creeps."

Joe acted unamused at the comment and continued, "The point is with all those evil digimon around it'll be tough. With Beelzemon calling the shots _and_ Lilithmon close by, he better watch his back."

"Who's Lilithmon?"

"One of the seven Demon Lords like Beelze-OUCH!"

"What?" TK asked alarmed.

Joe brought his head out from inside the cupboard. "I pricked my finger with a needle."

TK started backing towards the door to the small room. "Y-you brought needles? As in f-for shots?"

The older boy raised an eyebrow. "You can't be serious? You sprain your ankle a few weeks ago and don't bat an eyelash, but you think of shots, and you panic?"

TK shrugged. "I don't like the suspense when you're waiting for a shot."

Joe shook his head in disapproval. "Suspense is nothing compared to actual pain."

000

For how intelligent Izzy was, it was unbelievable how little he knew about people. The redhead's voice came through the D-terminal loud and clear. "Are you ready?"

Ken gulped, and his voice cracked as he confirmed, "Yes."

A melancholy smile dawned TK as he watched his friend fumble around with his equipment and supplies as he shoved it all into his backpack. The idea was to make it look like Ken had been surviving on his own, like he had turned on his team weeks ago. Today he would confront Kari and Cody (who were returning from setting up their base) in front of Beelzemon to show his betrayal.

Izzy recapped through the D-terminal, "We've been preparing for weeks, so you know the drill. Circle around Kari and Cody, so you won't appear like you're coming from Gennai's house then put on a show, Stingmon will use a few attacks, you say a few words, one of Beelzemon's spies will surely be watching and contact him, finally you convince him to let you join up with him."

"That's simple enough," TK assured trying to wipe away Ken's scared stiff expression.

If anything, Ken had become more nervous. He nodded to TK but dropped his digivice in the process. TK picked it up and handed it to him. "You need to relax. I'm positive everything will be fine."

Ken took the digivice but didn't respond, so TK continued, "I know it might scare you being so close to Beelzemon, but they won't hurt you if you're on their side, and you'll have Wormmon to protect you."

"I'm not afraid of them!" Ken raged. TK was taken aback, and the raven-haired boy looked quite sheepish. He reached over and shut off his D-terminal, so Izzy wouldn't hear him. His voice dropped to a whisper TK strained to hear. "I'm afraid of me."

TK cocked his head now thoroughly confused. "But why?"

"I-it's just that…" Ken's fist tightened as he bowed his head. "Going back into the darkness even if… I don't trust myself enough to tempt myself with the darkness. Being on the inside so close to power and corruption, who knows what'll happen."

"I do," TK insisted. "You're not the same person, Ken. You won't fall for that again. You have friends now who I know you wouldn't turn on."

Ken shook his bowed head. "You don't understand. I don't know that. I… the spore… the past-"

"Won't happen again!" TK finished more persistently. "Come on, Ken. You can do this. We're counting on you!"

"Well don't!" Ken shouted bringing his head up for TK to find his eyes filled with unshed tears. "Stop having so much faith in me! You just don't get it! The dark side could pull the holiest of creatures down, so what chance do I have!"

TK's eyes were full of sympathy. "Ken-"

"Don't," he insisted, "Just-just please I can't do this. I knew I couldn't and now…" He angrily rubbed his eyes to get out all the tears caused by his bottled up feelings.

TK couldn't stand seeing one of his friends in this state. He had to do something to help.

"Ken, listen…give me your backpack."

* * *

I hope I made it clear what TK taking the backpack means... Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated!


	2. Welcome

Written like _'this'_ means it's a thought.

If any of the new digimon's descriptions aren't clear enough, they're just based off of the picture of each of those types of Digimon on Wikipedia (except Lilithmon was altered a bit).

* * *

_July 1, 2005_

_Joe finally cleared my ankle even though I think it's been fine for the past week. I'm just glad to be back in action, but Ken's going to be the only one doing anything exciting. Tomorrow he heads off to join Beelzemon. If I were him, I'd hate it. Who wants that constant reminder of all the darkness and evil lurking in the Digital World?_

_Signed,_

_Takeru Takaishi_

* * *

July 2, 2005

Kari brushed her long, chestnut hair back with one hand as she checked her D-terminal with the other. "Izzy said things are going well."

Cody nodded as did Ankylomon and Angewomon. They all understood that by going well she meant Ken should be around soon, so they could stage his big rebellion scene against the Chosen Children. "So we'll rest here a few more minutes?"

Kari yelped as a giant rod boomeranged past all of them, narrowly evading both digimon.

"Might want to rethink your strategy! Lazing round's not getting you anywhere!" a voice taunted nearby.

Kari squinted as she tried to make out the figure. "But that sounds like-"

"TK!" Cody called out of shock more than anything.

He stood about nine yards away with a slight smirk and a backpack hung over both shoulders. "It's been awhile, but there's not really time for a reunion. Unless you _fight back_ wiping the two of you out won't take long at all."

"Are we supposed to be fighting TK?" Cody asked slowly as he watched Ankylomon avoid Angemon's rod again.

Kari shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, but he's fighting us…. Let's hope there's a spy around and give them a show."

Angewomon stayed in midair, not attempting to fight back. She was still trying to understand what was going on and why Angemon was here and not Stingmon.

Instead of flinging his rod again, Angemon charged at her with his rod out in front of him. She grabbed onto it to stop him from ramming her. He growled quietly, "Fight me. Make it convincing!" He broke her grip on the rod and whipped it towards the ground and Ankylomon.

"Go, Angewomon! You can do it!" Kari cheered. The angel digimon looked down at her. If Kari thinks she should be fighting Angemon, she couldn't argue with that.

"Celestial arrow!"

Angemon heard the call just in time to dodge the attack. He looked over to her in shock, but all she did was suggest, "You might want to do more than toss your rod around!"

He grinned slightly. She was right: if the three of them wanted this to be convincing, they needed to start actually aiming attacks at one another.

The digimon mock fought for a few more minutes. They occasionally landed blows but most missed on purpose. Meanwhile the humans waited for something to happen. They really hoped this wasn't just a waste of their digimons' energy, and someone had seen it.

An engine could be heard growing ever closer to the scene, and off in the distance TK spotted a creature riding in on a big, black motorcycle.

The creature coordinated well with its ride. His body was lined with black, metallic armor that covered everything from feet to tail to shoulders. His face was concealed by a dark blue mask, and he gave off an ominous but strong aura.

Just looking at the guy made TK's skin crawl. This had to be Beelzemon. He screamed evil and darkness, something TK couldn't stand, but he took a few deeper breaths reminding himself that he couldn't let that show if he was to join their side.

Beelzemon sped full speed on his motorcycle and stopped only a couple of feet from TK. Angemon, Angewomon, and Ankylomon had now ceased fighting and were watching the scene with fascination as were Kari and Cody.

He calmly stepped off his motorcycle and looked down on TK since he surpassed the blonde in height by a few feet.

"You're a Chosen Child," He stated bluntly, "so why fight them?"

"I'm on my own now," The blonde informed while readjusting his backpack.

Beelzemon was curious to say the least. From watching this group, he hadn't expected any of them to break up, but they were all notably different. Maybe that could've eventually caused one of them to break off on his own. Speaking again to the child, he stated, "I'm sure you know who I am."

'_All too well,'_ TK thought but aloud sneered, "Sorry but your arrogance outdoes your popularity."

In his low, demanding voice, the digimon introduced, "I am Beelzemon, Demon Lord and soon to be dictator of this world."

"Cool."

Beelzemon blinked, perplexed by the child. "Did you hear me?"

"Yes."

The digimon was taken aback by how unafraid and uninterested the human was, but he composed himself. He couldn't pass up the chance to have a Chosen digimon on his team. "It would be in both of our best interests if you were to join my army.-"

"No thanks."

"-You could even join my main team… What was that?"

TK shrugged and put on his best indifferent face. "I've been doing fine on my own. Why join a side?"

Kari and Cody shared a look. Where is he going with this?

"You really think you'll survive on your own around here once a war breaks out?" Beelzemon scoffed.

TK leaned on one foot as he tried to make his words as casual as possible. "What makes you think I can't just return back to my world if that happens?"

"Because I'm well aware that the Digi-Gods sealed the gates and are only opening them under certain circumstances which begs the question of how you chosen arrived here."

"They needed us to help out with some over confident lizard."

The digimon furrowed his brow. "Lizard?"

TK nonchalantly remarked, "Well you have a tail."

Beelzemon only smirked as he backed towards his motorcycle. "I'll make you an offer, kid: join me and prosper once I seize control or remain alone and wind up running for the hills."

The boy counted to five in his head as he pretended to think it over. "Alright, one condition: If I'm coming with you, I'm not riding that motorcycle. I fly with Angemon."

The smirk grew wider. "Like I'd let anyone, much less a human child, near my motorcycle."

Thankful that he fell for it, TK and Angemon followed Beelzemon back to his base. The Chosen Children had had a general idea of where it was but not the exact location. It certainly wasn't far off from Gennai's house, about a hundred miles. They flew over a few rivers, hills, and valleys on the way but no challenging landscapes and nothing Beelzemon's motorcycle couldn't plow past.

Once arriving at the base, they were awestruck. Before them stood an enormous dome made of black metal similar in appearance to Beelzemon's armor. The outside was that simple, just a huge, intimidating dome that, to TK's surprised, wasn't the entrance.

"Going through there leads to the control room and such," Beelzemon explained. "We'll be heading underground where you'll be staying as long as you're my affiliate."

Wedged between one side of the dome and a giant rock, a door covered the ground that opened to reveal a set of stairs leading farther down into the ground. Angemon dedigivolved, and TK and Patamon followed Beelzemon down the stairs leading to a large door that creaked loudly once Beelzemon opened it.

Oddly enough, the inside appeared smaller than the oversized door suggested. The metal ceiling wasn't tall enough for Beelzemon to stand, so he had to hunch over causing TK and Patamon not to feel as puny in comparison. The room came as even more of a shocker what with its normalcy. There wasn't one thing there that wasn't in the Human World. A small kitchen area off to the side, a throw rug with chairs and a couch surrounding it, three other doors directly opposite of where they stood, shelves of books to the left of the doors, a couple computers adjacent to that. For a villain's layer, it sure was cozy.

"I didn't do the decorating," Beelzemon said as if he already knew what TK was thinking.

"Who did?" Patamon piped, still star struck at the sight of the room.

"A couple of lackeys," he replied simply then pointed to the door across the hall that was the farthest left, "That's yours. Have fun. The others have been informed of your arrival."

"You're leaving?" Patamon exclaimed incredulously.

'_Good,'_ TK thought but instead asked, "What others?"

"Is that what I think it is? Oh it is! A real human!" The words came from behind one of the chairs.

"Datamon, make sure he doesn't get in the way." With those parting words, Beelzemon exited.

From behind the chair came a short creature that could be best compared to a robot with a visible processor under his glass cranium and a stout metallic body with a fair share of scratches and dents. He clapped his hands together in excitement causing a few short pings from the metal clanking together.

"A human!" He exclaimed while using all four legs to jog over to TK. "I've never been so close to one! Tell me, are you really made from snips, snails, and puppy dog tails?"

To say the least, the blonde was utterly dumbfounded. "I… What?"

"You're a human boy, aren't you? Those are the ingredients to create one," the short digimon said matter-of-factly while TK and Patamon shared a look.

"That's just an expression…" TK explained slowly.

Datamon rubbed his chin as he reevaluated. "Really? Fascinating… I suppose that makes sense. If it were that simple, I'd be able to delete all of you by now."

Patamon stuttered, "D-delete?"

"Oh yes, that is my job after all. I can deconstruct, reconstruct, and abolish data like digimon, but unfortunately I lack the knowledge of anatomy required for humans."

"Right…" TK nodded slightly. He was probably supposed to be terrified of an evil digimon who could tear Patamon apart bit by bit if he wanted, but TK just found himself amused at the little robot's innocent ignorance to humankind.

"That's why I find them so fascinating!" Datamon continued, "They're unique, special, out of this world! Wouldn't you agree, Lilith?"

A short pause before from the other side of the couch came the uninterested, bitter answer, "Humans aren't that great. They're just like digimon… except weak."

Datamon frowned and folded his arms. "Well aren't you a downer."

She snickered, "Aren't I always?" Standing up from the couch was what at first glance appeared to be a typical young woman with purple-tinted black, bobbed hair. On closer inspection, she donned a tight, black suit with flowing purple sleeves and shrug that were much too long and encased her, but perhaps most striking of all: she had thin and tattered black wings.

"She doesn't look like the pictures," Patamon whispered so only TK could hear, but he couldn't stop staring at her.

She rolled her eyes. "Why's that everyone's reaction?"

"You're the embodiment of lust?" Datamon suggested.

"Yes, but that gets old fast." She took a few steps closer to the others, and Patamon noticed she was only slightly taller than TK. "If you would stop drooling long enough, I'd tell you to call me Lilithmon."

TK unconsciously stood up straighter. "Sorry, I, uh, my name's TK."

She squinted slightly while looking him up and down. "I hear you're one of those Chosen Children."

"Was," he corrected perhaps a bit too quickly. "Not anymore."

"And why's that?"

TK hesitated. He never came up with a reason, so this one came out choppy. "…Because we had, um, different goals. They want to save the Digital World, and I want to… destroy and conquer it."

Lilithmon smirked. "Understand, Boy. Destruction is never the goal. It's just a necessary side effect."

Not stopping to fully diagnose the statement, he slowly backed away from the two digimon to his room. "Yeah, whatever you say, I'm just going to check out my room."

"Don't expect much," Lilithmon muttered.

"Bye, human!" Datamon called after him.

TK and Patamon entered their designated bedroom to be met with yelps and cheers.

"Jump higher!"

"Augh! I can't!"

"Why not?

"I'm a fish out of water!"

"Aw, you can't keep using that old excuse!"

TK and Patamon watched them in awe, the two digimon jumping on the bed who hadn't even taken notice to someone entering the room.

With webbed claws and several sleek fins lining its back, one of them appeared ferocious at first. That is until you caught sight of his carefree, jovial expression. The other came off as much more fun-loving, and it took TK a couple seconds to realize he was wearing a costume and not just an overly sized Gatomon.

"Excuse me!" Patamon shouted, but they both remained blissfully unaware. "HEY!"

They stopped jumping and whipped their heads around to the newcomers. "Is that the Chosen Child you were spying on, Betsumon?" asked the finned digimon speedily.

"Yes it was, Gizamon!" Betsumon, the one in the Gatomon costume, answered just as quickly. "Look! He was out there, and now he's one of us because of me!"

"They act like me before your mom banned sugar from your apartment," Patamon commented to which TK chuckled.

"Do you think they want to play?" Gizamon asked, and Betsumon nodded and threw his paws in the air.

"Of course! Everyone wants to play!" They both turned to Patamon and TK and in unison said, "Wanna play?"

But instead of answering the question, TK simply mused, "You two remind me of someone…"

"We do? No way!" Gizamon protested.

Betsumon folded his arms. "Yeah! We're two of a kind! No one else like us!"

TK shrugged and resisted the urge to laugh. "If you say so." _'For evil digimon, they sure are silly.'_ He felt Patamon squirm in his arms a bit, so he suggested, "Pata, why don't you play with them while I check out this room."

Patamon grinned, thankful for a chance to have some fun. "Alright, bye, TK!" He and the two other little digimon exited the room. TK took a deep breath as he let everything, all the new digimon, the new base, and his new identity as one of them sink in.

He then took a look around his bedroom. Lilithmon was right about one thing; it wasn't much. It was a small room with metal floors like the rest of the base, a plain single bed, and a nightstand.

A sudden high-pitched beep went directly into his ear followed by "TK, if you can hear me cough once. If you're alone cough twice."

He coughed twice and pressed the ear bud closer to his ear. He off-handedly thought how convenient it was he never got a haircut before they left for the Digital World. It had grown just long enough to cover up his ear ergo his communicator with the others.

Izzy began babbling information to TK as he slowly ventured around the small bedroom while unloading the contents of his backpack: a few sets of clothes, some random survival gear to make it look like he'd been surviving alone, a few other items. "Remember, don't reply to anything I'm about to say; there's always a possibility someone is listening in. First off, taking Ken's spot was a risky move that I do not endorse. You're fortunate Beelzemon fell for it, and Kari and I agree that you were very convincing so keep the act up. The second he's suspicious the whole plan is in jeopardy. Now, find out as much information you can as fast as you can and sabotage anything you can get your hands on, got it?"

TK coughed quietly, and Izzy must've taken it as a yes because he didn't respond. _'Knowing someone is listening in on everything I do is kind of creepy,' _he thought, _'but if it's the only way to relay information back to the team I'll have to get used to it.'_

000

A few hours later, TK and Patamon ventured into the kitchen to replenish their energy. They were munching on some mushrooms they found in there (that admittedly, TK first checked for poison) while Lilithmon sat a few feet away in a chair reading one of the dozens of books on the shelves and Datamon was on the floor tinkering with some metal parts. Oddly it reminded TK of evenings back at Gennai's house except it would be Joe reading some medical book and Izzy tinkering around with his computer. The comparison left TK with a sour feeling as he sternly reminded himself that these evil digimon should never be compared to his friends.

Interrupting his thoughts, TK heard Patamon ask, "Where's Beelzemon?"

Lilithmon kept her eyes to her book and laughed, "Oh please, he's only around when there's something he wants. Right now he doesn't need any of us, so he doesn't care about us."

Beelzemon stuck his head through the door and bellowed, "I need Betsumon!"

"And now he needs something," she deadpanned.

Betsumon and Gizamon came trampling in from their bedroom, the middle of the three doors. Betsumon saluted. "Whadda you need, boss?"

"A couple of Digimon have wandered too close to our base for comfort. Go spy on them."

"Aye aye, Captain!" He ended his salute and scurried past Beelzemon and out the door.

Beelzemon eyed TK and Patamon. "Have you properly moved in?"

Again this digimon's presence made TK's blood boil, so he kept his answer short. "Yes."

Lilithmon watched the exchange in curiosity, paying extra attention to Beelzemon. Something was off. She stepped over to him and asked for a word. He looked to her expectantly, so she indicated for him to bend down. With one more thoughtful glance at TK, she said, "You don't trust that human, do you?"

Beelzemon chuckled. "Not at all."

* * *

About the lust comment: If you aren't familiar with the seven Demon Lords, they each represent one of the seven deadly sins, and Lilithmon's is lust.

Much thanks for reading!


	3. To Be Evil

To Be Evil

_July 3, 2005_

_There has to be something wrong with these guys; I just know it! No matter how normal they seem, they're evil even if Beelzemon is the only one showing his true colors._

_Signed,_

_Takeru Takaishi_

* * *

July 2, 2005

Izzy, with Joe alongside him, furiously typed out a message on his computer for everyone who could to turn on their webcam on their d-terminals. He was soon answered by Matt, Davis, and Sora.

"What's up?" Davis greeted sleepily as he rubbed the back of his head.

Matt rolled his eyes and looked to the right of his screen where Davis presumably was. "Maybe you'd know if you hadn't slept most of the day."

Davis defended, "I get sleepy when it's cold!"

Changing the subject, Sora knowingly questioned, "Is this about TK taking Ken's place?"

"He what?" Matt asked now more alert.

Davis looked more awake now. "Wait how do you know that if we don't?"

"Kari told me," She explained, "She said he was pretty convincing too."

"Oh good," Davis breathed as he leaned back onto one of the snow-covered rocks in the north, "So TK's in with the bad dudes, and there's nothing to worry about."

Izzy massaged his temples and took a deep breath. Didn't they understand what ramifications this could cause to his plan? He asked what he'd been thinking, "Who in the Digiworld is going to believe that _TK_- innocent child of hope with an _angel _for a digimon- is bad?"

"It's a messed up world away from that laptop, isn't it?"

"Not funny, Matt," Izzy reprimanded, "Besides aren't you worried?"

Though he didn't sound it, Matt admitted, "Terrified but they believed him and now all we can do is be ready for trouble."

"Besides," Joe added, "He's in a better position than all of us. Beelzemon isn't coming after him."

"Speaking of Beelzemon," Sora started, "Shouldn't we start gathering up an army like he is?"

"We're obviously building an army. That's the point of these bases, but we're not gathering it. At this point our best bet is to cover more ground by having allies everywhere," Izzy explained quickly, "Now back to the matter at hand; TK is infiltrating the enemy and not Ken!"

"But they believed him. He's in," Davis reminded, "so what's the big hullabaloo about?"

"Plus I'm sure him and Ken must've had a good reason to do something like this," Sora chimed.

Izzy muttered stubbornly, "That wasn't my plan."

Suddenly Matt asked, "Joe, how's his ankle?"

Joe looked up at the screen startled as though he'd been preoccupied with something else. "Hmm? Oh, fine, it's completely healed. A little shaky but only when he's doing something excessively physically demanding."

Izzy sighed and opened up a second window on his computer. "Alright, I'll check in with him."

"Don't be mad," Sora ordered, "There's no point. You can't do anything about it now."

"I won't be mad, but I'm going to say_ something_." With that, Izzy closed the chat and hooked his microphone up to TK's communicator, and he waited for a moment when TK was alone.

000

July 3, 2005

"So tell me, what exactly are these 'TV dinners'?" Datamon inquired as he poked at his mushroom breakfast.

TK, though slightly amused, had to think before explaining yet another mundane human concept. "It's food that's frozen then you heat it up and eat it."

"And TV, telly-visions? Are those the magic moving picture boxes? Are those powered by a sorcerer of some kind? Perhaps a Sorcerermon?"

"Sorcerermon?" Gizamon questioned loudly from his spot across the table.

"You made that up!" Betsumon accused as he stood up on his chair.

"Oh just eat your mushrooms," Datamon dismissed, "I happen to be an expert on all things Digimon and by Digital standards, all things human."

TK and Patamon both held in a laugh. This guy didn't understand humans at all. Then again he does know about things like television even if he doesn't understand them. "I have a question," TK announced, "Where did you learn about humans?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Datamon excitedly hopped out of his seat and grabbed from the edge of the book shelves a tattered, red book. He came back over and handed it to TK who looked it over carefully.

It read _One Hundred and One Expressions and Idioms_. Inside was exactly that, phrases he'd heard his entire life, most of which weren't to be taken literally, but how was Datamon supposed to know that?

The robotic digimon, talking fast and without stopping for breath, explained, "This book from the Human World is the source for most of my research. It's very insightful. Giving me information on anatomy about how your heart is on your sleeve ergo your arm or even the weather with things like it's raining cats and dogs, but cats are killed by their curiosity which leaves dogs to be man's best friend!"

A beat then Patamon burst out laughing,

"Patamon!" TK scolded as he held in a laugh himself. "Sorry, it's just that you can't take everything we say literally."

Datamon frowned. "Why not?"

"You just can't," he repeated before changing the subject, "Hey, where's Lilithmon?"

"On an assignment from the boss!" Gizamon piped.

"You can't just sit around here all day! We've all got jobs to do!" Betsumon, still standing on his chair, stood up a little straighter and puffed his chest out. "I'm the boss's personal spy. There isn't anything going on in the Digital World that I don't already know about or won't find out about!"

TK cocked his head. "But it's not like you can be everywhere at once."

Betsumon did an exaggerated eye roll. "Well duh, I've got other spies reporting to me, but I'm the top dog around here!... Er, cat."

Gizamon quickly jumped in next, "I'm in charge of anything aquatic and/or water related. Betsu may know the land, but I know the sea."

"Yes, yes, and obviously I'm the brains of this operation," Datamon informed, "Lilithmon on the other hand… well she is just plain mean, vicious really. The first time I saw her fight—Woo boy! Gave me chills!"

"What are we?" TK questioned.

Datamon eyeballed the blonde. "You? Bait. Patamon on the other hand is more muscle for Beelzemon to throw around."

"I've got a brain too, you know," Patamon huffed indignantly.

"I'm bait?" TK asked incredulously.

"Well yeah," he shrugged like it was nothing, "All a Chosen Child being here is going to do is rile up some digimon. As far as the war goes, you can't fight, can't travel far distances without Patamon, no special abilities. You'd be outta here if he could digivolve without you."

"Two things you need to know about this place," Gizamon started, "One, you're only here if you're useful."

"Two, when the boss gives a command, you jump to do it," Betsumon finished.

Loud clunks echoed from the stairway outside the front door. Moments later Beelzemon stuck his head in through the door. He pointed to TK and ordered, "You, come with me." TK and Patamon exchanged glances thinking on Betsumon's last words then they followed Beelzemon up the stairs and outside the base.

But even if TK was going to listen to him, he wasn't going to be happy about it. "What do you want?"

Beelzemon overlooked the rude tone. "The approaching war needs to kick it into high gear."

"And I'm here because?"

He wrapped his hands around the handles of his motorcycle. "I'll be making a spectacle out of you to show those inferior digimon how their heroes have fallen. Hopefully that'll upset them enough that they'll turn to violence," he explained with a smirk, "That's when the fun truly begins."

With Beelzemon on his motorcycle and TK riding high on Angemon, they traveled far across the land. TK mentally noted that they were heading in the direction of Primary Village but stopped well before it once they reached a bored Lilithmon surrounded by small, cowering digimon.

"What's going on?" TK asked but was easily ignored by Lilithmon.

"I gathered a crowd like you wanted," she announced to Beelzemon as she strolled over to the three of them. As she got close she added, "It's just like you to ask for digimon this weak. If you're this afraid of being overthrown, you may not want to keep me around."

The insult didn't bother him; in fact, he was amused. "You're not getting away from me that easily." He dictatively walked over to the crowd. He towered over them, and they quavered with every step he took.

"Listen up! The Chosen Children, your _saviors_," he sneered, "have ripped at the seams! They're spread all across this world, and today one of them stands against you." He shoved TK forward, and he stumbled but regained his balance quickly as he looked around at all the small digimon.

There were hoards of them who must've come from all over. Among them were tons of Numamon, Yokomon, Geckomon, what must've been the whole Koromon village, and they were all looking to him in fear or hostility. Normally he'd be here to help these digimon. He'd never been received so poorly from them. Finally he made eye contact with a disappointed Elecmon surrounded by terrified little babies; he felt his chest tighten.

"Don't believe me?" Beelzemon continued, "Well it just so happens this Chosen Child has come here today to jump start this war." From the crowd of small digimon, he reached down and snatched a shaking and whimpering Geckomon. He roughly placed him on the ground away from the crowd but only a foot in front of Angemon.

The angel digimon tilted his head in confusion, and TK asked in a hushed tone what exactly was going on.

TK's blood pressure rose as Beelzemon smirked. "Now, how can you prove to them… _or me_ that you're truly evil without first taking a life?"

* * *

Not long, but I thought it was a logical place to stop. Thanks for reading!


	4. Orders

Chapter Four

Orders

July 3, 2005

Beelzemon smirked. "Now, how can you prove to them… _or me_ that you're truly evil without first taking a life?"

For a split second TK lost his calm and emotionless demeanor, and though he didn't lead on Beelzemon noticed. TK hastily built back up the wall between how he was truly feeling (helpless and horrified) and how he needed to appear to the others (Uncaring and indifferent).

Using the first excuse that came to him, he let out a ridiculous and hopefully believable laugh then scoffed, "You want Angemon to kill that pathetic thing? Please, it's not worth our time."

"Oh come now, one attack and Geckomon's toast," Beelzemon prodded, "Besides, proving you're subordinate and launching a war are great motivations, right?"

"…Right." TK clenched his teeth. "I just need to converse with my partner here first." He and Angemon took a few steps away, turning their backs to the crowd.

Lilithmon, standing a few steps behind her boss, simply watched the scene in fascination. "Do you think they'll do it?"

Beelzemon also watched them but much more intently. "The kid hesitated. He probably doesn't have the guts."

TK opened his mouth to speak to Angemon but was interrupted by a high-pitched squeak in his communicator as Izzy came on the line. "TK, you have to do this. It's either kill this one digimon now or you'll jeopardize the whole plan, we'll fail, and thousands will die later! Do you understand?"

He tried to glare at his communicator… but it's sort of impossible to glare at your own ear. Whether he wanted to do this or not, Izzy had a point. He couldn't ruin the plan; it might be their only shot at defeating Beelzemon.

As he sorted through the rights and wrongs of the situation the chipper Betsumon's earlier words echoed in his head, _"When the boss gives you a command, you jump to it."_

TK took a deep breath and whispered, "Izzy thinks you have to do this."

Angemon grimaced. "What do you think?"

The blonde shrugged and forced himself not to think of the anticipating crowd behind him. "If we don't there's no way they'll trust us, but if we do…"

His partner turned slightly to glance at the small digimon. "But it's so," Angemon searched for the word as he looked down at the cowering frog-like creature, "…cute."

"Ugh! We can't do this! It's not right," TK said. He looked up to Angemon and thought back to how he felt when his partner had sacrificed himself when fighting Devimon, but of course he had come back…

"That's it!" TK exclaimed perhaps a bit too loudly. Lowering his voice again he explained, "Think about it, Geckomon is going to come back as an egg, so we're not _really_ killing him."

"I guess..." Angemon conceded.

"Right," TK gulped trying to convince himself as well as his partner that that made this morally acceptable, "And we have to do this for the sake of the plan and ending the war."

"Isn't this starting the war?"

From behind them Beelzemon barked, "What are you waiting for? I said now!"

They both tensed up a bit then turned back around again to face the crowd. It was dead silent. TK locked eyes with the small Geckomon. Though the blonde shielded his emotions, his eyes revealed his inner turmoil, and for a moment the terrified digimon's eyes had a glimmer of hope once it saw the uncertainty in TK's. He already doubted his earlier logic. Even if Geckomon would come back, he'd still be causing a lot of damage. Then again, working as an undercover evil ally couldn't cause anything but chaos.

Everyone's opinion but his own floated through his mind and pounded on his head. No matter what he'd be disappointing someone.

"…_Jump to it..."_

"…_Or thousands will die..."_

"…_I said now!"_

"_But it's so cute."_

It was all he could do not to scream.

"Whatever you're going to do, would you hurry it up already?" Lilithmon's words broke through his thoughts and brought him back to the present. He gulped loudly and took a half-step away from the Geckomon as he averted his eyes.

"Kill it."

Angemon barely caught the quiet, unconfident command. He reluctantly stepped forward, towering over the small digimon, and behind his mask was a look of regret before the deed had even been done. Neglecting to call out his attack, Angemon solemnly drew his fist back as it began to shine with power. Like TK, he didn't look as he brought it down.

A screech of pain. A hushed crowd. A Demon Lord with the same demonic smirk.

Angemon stumbled back, and from the corner of TK's eye he caught sight of the first few bits of Geckomon's data dissolving into thin air. He squeezed his eyes tight but couldn't shut his ears to the creature's ongoing whines and useless cries for help.

From behind, a cold hand came to rest on his shoulder and squeezed. "Well done, now I truly see where your loyalties lie."

TK opened his eyes groggily and caught sight of the last bit of Geckomon's data get carried away in the breeze.

000

"You really drew out that one," Lilithmon complained as she entered their base, "We could've been back ages ago." She kept walking right into her room leaving TK, Patamon resting on his head with wings drooped, to trudge in, take a seat at the kitchen table, and collapse from emotional exhaustion.

"Back so soon?" came Datamon's voice from the other side of the couch.

Patamon nodded, and TK spoke in what he hoped was a casual way, "Beelzemon just had me kill a Geckomon."

The robot looked to him perplexed. "You're talking about destroying data like it's just a minor annoyance."

"Well he'll be reborn."

He chortled, "Silly human, that's old news. Data isn't reconfigured anymore."

TK sat up quickly causing Patamon to pull on his hair rather hard. "Wait, why, what changed?"

Datamon sighed and hopped up to the seat opposite them. "Now you do understand how a digimon's data was put back together?"

"I don't understand _anything_ about this place," he responded bluntly.

Datamon shook his head in disappointment muttering something about humans then explained, "Well as I'm sure you do know, Datamon have the ability to deconstruct, reconstruct, and abolish data. When a digimon 'dies' what's happened essentially is that there data has broken apart, so it was my duty to put their data back together and send them off to Primary Village. But now that I've got a new gig with Beelzemon there's no one to collect and reconstruct their data."

"Why doesn't another Datamon do it now?" Patamon piped.

Datamon moved his hands around in the air as he spoke to better his justification. "There aren't many of us to start with and a rarer few who are actually powerful enough. Besides it's not exactly a fun job, takes a lot out of you."

"Then why did you do it?"

He whimsically proclaimed, "Oh, for the pursuit of knowledge! Those kids promised me I could learn everything I'd ever want to know about this world through that job, and I did which left me with nothing to research except the Human World."

Patamon tilted his head. "What kids?"

"The original Chosen Children, ever hear about them? They-"

"Wait a minute!" TK interrupted, "You mean that Geckomon isn't coming back?"

Although looking irked from being cut off, Datamon replied, "No, why does it matter?"

Gizamon and Betsumon came charging into the base. The former cheered, "Patamon! TK!"

"Wanna play?" Betsumon asked hopefully already heading towards the table.

TK stood up on shaky legs, still thinking on his latest discovery. "I think I'll just call it a day." He along with Patamon retreated into the solitude of their room.

000

"It's official. They're in an uproar," Yolei reported glumly as she entered Izzy's office.

"Who is?" Ken asked from his spot in the corner shuffling through all their research papers.

"Everyone!" She exclaimed while tossing her hands in the air, "Our side's upset because they think TK betrayed us, Beelzemon apparently kept TK a secret, so his side's mad and convinced they can't trust a Chosen Child, and the bystanders are angry because the innocent ones like Geckomon are being drawn into this war."

"At least the bystanders will want to join our side," Izzy commented. He swiftly typed a few commands into his keyboard. "I'm going to give TK an update then I think we're all done for the day."

He hooked up his connection to TK's communicator to the speaker, so Yolei and Ken could listen in. All they heard was some faint rustling which suggested to Izzy it was a good time to talk. The redhead gave his usual introduction, "If you're alone cough twice."

There was an unusually long pause before the coughs came, but he didn't notice. "Right, so Beelzemon's plan worked perfectly. Geckomon's death certainly caused some ripples, and I wouldn't be surprised if we witness the first of the fighting tomorrow. Expect the war to-"

"You knew, didn't you?" TK shouted catching Izzy off guard.

The redhead hissed into the microphone, "You're not supposed to talk to me! What if someone is-"

"You knew he wouldn't come back. You…" TK muttered completely ignoring the warning to stay quiet, "but why? It's, that's… how? Did you know I was going to have to do this?"

"I had my assumptions," Izzy admitted, "but no, I thought_ Ken_ was going to have to do that."

Ken shut out the comment by burying himself further into his research. He couldn't believe TK killing him, let alone himself choosing to do so. If that doesn't bring up memories of the Kaiser days nothing will. He caught sight of Yolei giving him a reassuring look. He tried to return a smile albeit failing.

Voice small, the blonde asked, "Why would you let me do that?"

For the briefest moment an eight year old TK clutching an orange striped egg flashed through his mind. Izzy sighed. It wasn't like he wanted this any more than TK did. "You're treading down a dangerous path here. The truth is that there is no right or wrong. Only them and us, and we have to do everything in our power to make sure that us prevails against them even if that means stooping to their level, using dirty tactics… killing."

After a long silence, Izzy was about to say something else, but TK came on the line speaking with a newfound resolve and determination. "I understand, and I promise I'll do whatever it takes."

000

The metal door creaked slightly as Lilithmon slipped past it. She stared down at the boy, mostly to check if he was asleep but partly because she was perplexed. He seemed so peaceful and relaxed in sharp contrast to how alert and aware he was during the day. The small Patamon slept on the edge of his pillow having what must've been a fairly enjoyable dream from the expression on his face.

She carefully bent down and slipped large headphones over TK's ear that wasn't buried in the pillow. _'He better be a heavy sleeper.' _She hit the play button on the black box the headphones were connected to. The tape began to play, but the boy didn't move. She sighed in relief.

Beelzemon's earlier instructions echoed through her head, _"Remember all you have to do is get him to listen to this tape for a couple of hours a night. It's mild brainwashing at best, and it's just so he's less inclined to go scurrying back to his little friends, but I'm warning you, he can't find out what we're doing. He needs to trust us even if we don't trust him."_

She rolled her eyes. Sometimes Beelzemon needed to relax and realize everything was going according to plan.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed


	5. Commitment

Not much to say except I went on an insane writing spree and wrote almost all of this in one sitting.

* * *

_July 4, 2005_

_It's wierd. Yesterday I felt absolutely horrible about what I had to do, but now I can't think about anything but this headache. It's like someone put up a wall, so I can't feel bad about yesterday even though I know I should._

_Signed,_

_Takeru Takaishi_

* * *

Datamon crossed his arms and huffed, "I simply refuse to believe what you saw was the Loch Ness Monster. That is a creature from the Human World that you read about in a book."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Gizamon pointed out.

Betsumon agreed, "Yeah, Data, you learn everything from books!"

"Well yes, but I don't try and apply other worldly legends to our world… Lilithmon, help me out here," Datamon pleaded.

"Pass," she answered airily while flipping another page of her book.

A thump could be heard from the other side of TK and Patamon's door. A few moments later TK stumbled out clutching the door frame tightly. He rubbed his head messing up his shaggy hair even more then automatically checked to make sure his hair still covered the ear with the communicator.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the digi-egg this morning," Betsumon sing-songed.

TK blinked sleep out of his eyes and let go of the door frame, stumbling a few steps as he continued forward. "What? No, my head just… ugh, I feel-"

"Like you got ran over by a Greymon?" Gizamon tried.

"Like there's pressure all around your cerebral cortex?" Datamon offered.

"Lousy!" TK finished abruptly and flopped into a seat at the kitchen table next to Datamon and across from Gizamon and Betsumon.

"Maybe some fish will cheer you up!" Betsumon exclaimed while tossing a whole fish in front of TK, "Gizamon caught them this morning."

The blonde rubbed the sides of his head just above his ears and kept his gaze concentrated down at the fish as he tried to get the pounding in his head to stop.

"We don't have mushrooms for_ every_ meal," Gizamon informed assuming that was the reason for his hesitation to eat.

TK attempted to smile but ended up biting his lip with his forehead to the table. "My head hurts," came his muffled voice.

Datamon clapped his metal claws together in excitement. "Oh that's a human disease! It's called a headache. It's when your head… aches…. You humans aren't very clever are you?"

Lilithmon shifted her position on the couch but didn't say a word. His headache must be a sign the headphones were working.

TK sighed then assured, "It'll go away soon. Just ugh, it's annoying!"

Betsumon looked up from his already half-eaten fish. "Oh awesome 'cause the Boss wanted to see you today. Probably something good with all the damage you caused yesterday."

"Right… good," TK mumbled as a creek came from the metal front door. Beelzemon stomped inside being forced to duck due to the ceiling in the process.

Lilithmon glanced over the edge of the couch and asked, "Beelzemon actually came in here? Oh dear, he must want something that requires a lot of effort."

"Not on your part," Beelzemon snapped then turned to TK who tried his best not to lay his head down or wince from the pain. "Did you just get up? What, have you been moping all morning?"

"There's nothing to mope about," TK replied. He tried to sound emotionless, but there was evident pain in his voice as he tried not to reach up to massage his head.

"That's the spirit," the large digimon soothed in a way that made the human's skin crawl, "So today I'll be taking you upstairs to the Control Room."

"But, Boss, we never get to go up there!" Gizamon whined.

"Yeah!" Betsumon agreed.

"Neither of you have any business being up there. On the other hand, Lilithmon, Datamon, and now TK and Patamon do."

Betsumon leaned back in his chair mumbling, "But I bet it's so cool up there with flashing lights and people all lined up in chairs at their desks, and they've all got head sets, and everything is all silver…"

000

"Silver? Why would we paint it silver?" Tai questioned as he studied their new base. It wasn't anything spectacular, but it had four walls made from the surrounding trees, stood on its own, and could house a good number of allied digimon plus themselves. Tai personally thought it felt very homey with its log cabin vibe.

"Because Matt already said no to putting flames on the side," Davis grumbled obviously still bitter about it. He rubbed his tan gloves together and hopped from foot to foot. Even with all the time he's spent here he still wasn't used to the cold.

"Wouldn't it make sense to just keep it white because it'll blend in with the snow better?" Tai suggested causing the other to squint at the structure as though deep in thought.

"Oh yeah I guess it would… Right, glad I thought of it! Let's go find everyone!" Davis rallied as Tai lagged behind while rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, _you _thought of it."

They entered to find the usual hustle and bustle. Various digimon from the area of all shapes and sizes shuffling into the base, some through the front door but a good number of the smaller ones through windows or holes they'd burrowed through the floor. It was morning, and the sun was fairly high in the sky; this was the time the three Chosen had decided on for a daily head count. In exchange for their allies helping them, they had promised to always keep them safe while working with them, but with so many digimon there was no way to keep track of them all without a roll call.

Matt leaned on the back wall skimming through his list as the last of the digimon filed in. He caught sight of Tai and Davis. The ladder gave a thumb up to signal that there was no one else coming. Matt nodded slightly, pushed off the wall, and practically yelled over the crowd, "Alright, if you're here you better speak up! Gekomon?"

"Here!" answered a high-pitched squeak from over by the window.

"Mojyamon?"

In contrast, a low voice replied, "Here."

Matt went through the usual roll call, and it went smoothly besides the Chuumon who didn't reply because he was accidently being squished by Mojyamon and the Floramon who arrived late and nearly gave Tai a heart attack because someone suggested she was captured.

"All accounted for," Matt muttered to himself as he scribbled the date and the headcount down on his list.

Tai and Davis shouldered their way past the crowd making sure not to step on any smaller digimon as they made their way across the base to Matt who informed, "There are way too many of them."

"You can't have too big of an army," Davis countered.

"You can when you wake up with Mojyamon's hair in your face."

Tai chuckled and suggested, "Maybe what we really need is more space. All we have to do is take out a wall and extend it."

"We just finished building it!" Davis complained. A passing mushroommon rammed him in the back on accident and after regaining his balance, he slumped his shoulders and muttered, "Maybe we do need more space."

Tai stuck his index finger in the air with a grin. "But first I think we're still missing someone."

"Everyone on the list was here…" Matt trailed off as he caught Tai's drift, "Wait you're not talking about who I think you're talking about are you?"

Tai shrugged as the grin grew wider. "Izzy said to find all our old friends."

"Man, he's really old," he thought aloud, "Do you seriously think he hasn't moved in all this time?"

"Hey, we know he didn't leave the snow," Tai reasoned as Matt scratched the back of his neck with his gloved hand still hesitant.

"Do I get to know who we're talking about?" Davis asked as he stuck both his hands in his coat pockets.

"Don't worry about it," Matt assured as he started pushing his way through the crowd prompting the other two to follow suit, "You stay here with them today while we build up the army a bit more."

"What am I supposed to do alone all day?"

"You're not alone! You're surrounded by an army. Get to know 'em, train 'em, show them some battle plans, you know what to do," Tai threw over his shoulder as he pushed past a wall of digimon and breathed a sigh of relief when the door was in sight.

000

The door into the main base, the one TK had been living under, slid open smoothly, and Beelzemon entered causing a loud clank with every step he took on the shining, metal floor.

"Why's everything around here metal anyway?" Patamon muttered to TK who chuckled softly. His mind had been on his headache that mysteriously vanished in less than a half hour of waking up.

'_I'm sure it was nothing. Even if it was bad it went away soon.' _He calmly followed Beelzemon inside letting his gaze wander around as Patamon's grip to his head grew tighter.

The room wasn't that cluttered and remained an open area that was vacant besides a crowd of about twenty Meramon that sat listening to a Floramon.

"Now you see, possibly our greatest strength and weakness is how divided the enemy is right now. They're attempting to gather troops from all across the globe, but in their search for greater numbers it has harmed their strength since there's no more than three ultimate digimon in one place. Give them enough time and they'll have the numbers, so it won't matter. That's why we must be quick and direct."

As he went on, whispers from the group could be heard here or there as they discussed the information, but the overall vibe from the Meramon was a tense one. They must have been nervous about war and going up against a large army or perhaps fighting in general.

With a touch of pride TK mused that they should be nervous if they wanted to go toe to toe with the Chosen Children. He hoped Izzy was picking up this new knowledge on their war plans.

"Keep walking," Patamon urged once the heat from the flaming digimon had become too much causing TK to realize he'd come to a complete stop by the group, but Beelzemon hadn't halted and continued towards a set of black, winding stairs at the edge of the room. TK trotted to catch up as he caught sight of a Numemon shining the floors in a way that was reminiscent of a kicked puppy. Patamon opened his mouth to say something but shut it shortly after knowing that from his current position there wasn't anything he could do to relieve him.

Looking up from the bottom, you'd think the spiraling staircase went on forever as it faded into the distance but climbing it took a relatively short time as they arrived on the second floor.

Without stepping off the stairs, Beelzemon simply stopped and explained, "This is the Control Room. They keep track of all of our information, check through footage spies have gathered, run battle scenarios, and the like."

TK raised an eyebrow. "I thought Datamon was the brains of this operation."

"He is; he's in charge of all of them," The large digimon let his hand sweep out over the thin, wire railing to indicate the room. Surprisingly enough it fit Betsumon's earlier description. Large screens, computers, and control panels with tons of different colored buttons and flashing lights lining the room leaving little space for anything else besides the digimon who shuffled around going from machine to machine, flipping a switch here, checking a panel there. Unlike the previous floor there were no hushed whispers or side conversations. The only noise came from the beeping of the machines since the digimon had no need to talk, just do their job.

Without a word Beelzemon kept moving upward prompting TK and Patamon to follow. They now understood why the stairs looked so long because it took about three times as long to reach the next and hopefully final floor.

In sharp contrast to the rest of the base, the top level had a carpeted dark red floor and monitors covering the walls all the way up to the top of the dome shaped room. Four black, office chairs, one three sizes bigger than the others, faced the monitors in the center.

"This is the Master Room where all of the big decisions. Where to send troops, how many, what's our next move, things like that. There's a chair for me, Lilithmon, Datamon… and you."

TK's blue eyes slowly drifted from the monitors on the wall to the four chairs circling the center of the room. His was opposite the largest one which was obviously Beelzemon's, but where normally the thought of having to sit in some room with the guy would enrage him, all he could think about was the level of power and authority he'd just received. Being on level with Lilithmon and Datamon meant he was among Beelzemon's most trusted allies. He was in.

Carefully as though he were balancing on cherry blossoms and challenged not to break them, he walked towards the chair. With only a moment's hesitation in front of it, he turned and lowered himself into it during which Patamon flew off his head and landed on the ground a few feet away.

A chill ran down his spine as he contacted the chair. The cushioning on it was extremely comfortable and sitting in it made him both relaxed and tense at the same time like any moment Izzy or Matt would pop up and reprimand him for enjoying this, but the surge of power and energy that came from the experience consumed him. Between eleven other Chosen Children and five that could order him around, he'd never felt this important.

"Here's your choices, _Chosen_," he sneered. TK sat up straighter afraid he'd have to prove his loyalty again, "You can either become a leader at the front of this war where everyone will know about you and fear how their Chosen Children have crumbled, or I can kill you."

"Gee they're both so tempting," TK said sarcastically.

Beelzemon smirked. "Don't underestimate me. If you join me you may just learn there are fates worse than death."

The blonde tightened his grip on the arms of the chair. "Are you trying to scare me?"

"I'm preparing you. I just want to know you won't drown under all the pressure and sacrifices you may have to make."

Despite himself, TK allowed a genuine smile, albeit small, to grace his face. "Beelzemon, I'm already in way over my head."

000

"Why don't we stop, I'll roast us a fire, you guys get some sticks, Gabumon's got the marshmallows, and we call it a day?"

Tai laughed, "Agumon, we've only been walking for twenty minutes! You're sure out of shape."

"Am not," he protested, "I'm just in the mood for some marshmallows."

"Well you're always in the mood for something," Gabumon chimed causing Matt to chuckle from his spot in the front trudging through the thick of the snow.

"The clearing's up ahead," he announced and was met with a couple whoops from the group (and a "finally" from Agumon). "Guys, we still don't know if he'll even be here."

"Stop being so negative," the brunette reprimanded, "Where else does a talking snowman have to go?"

"I've been thinking," Gabumon began, "You all are going to gather a lot of digimon if you're going to get all the friends you made over the past few years."

"Ha, Mimi should have fun finding all the friends she made!" Tai laughed. As he did a low, long growl came from his stomach.

"Tai-" Matt started.

"What? It's not my fault we skipped breakfast," he defended.

"Actually it is because you made us leave so soon," the blonde corrected.

"Whatever," Tai muttered while adjusting his blue headband, "let's find Frigimon!" He ran forward, and Agumon quickly followed, but the other pair lagged behind. As Tai ran, he heard a pair of beeps and slowed down once he got to the edge of the clearing to check his d-terminal.

**Everyone,**

**Beelzemon's plan of attack is to be quick and direct. I'll send another message if we find out anything else.**

**-Izzy**

"Quick might be a problem," Tai commented.

"Direct doesn't sound that great either," Matt added as he walked into the clearing thankful he had less snow to plow through now that Tai had taken the lead.

The brunette frowned. "How quick is quick?"

The other shrugged and took a few more steps towards the center of the clearing. "He's building up an army just like us, so it can't be that soon."

"I guess you're right," he conceded, "Now for the matter at hand…" Tai placed his hands around his mouth and shouted, "HEY, FRIGIMON!"

"Like that's gonna work," Matt said sarcastically, but as he spoke thumping footsteps could be heard not twenty feet away.

Frigimon poked out from behind a tree. He warned, "You're on a mountain so don't scream unless you want an avalanche."

"Frigimon!" they exclaimed in unison, Matt out of surprise and Tai in greeting.

"Do you have any food?" asked Agumon innocently.

The snowman digimon laughed. "I'm sure I have something for you if you come back to the cave."

They followed Frigimon back to his home which Matt and Gabumon recognized as the cave they had stayed in so many years ago. They all sat down and most importantly got some food into Tai and Agumon.

"I don't think I've ever loved fish so much," Agumon said to which Tai only nodded as he continued chewing.

Frigimon said, "It's been awhile since I've seen any of you around here, but I've sure heard of you. It's good to know someone's going to stand up to that Demon of a Lord."

The blonde shrugged and eyed his fish. "We're only doing what he have to, and speaking of that we were hoping you wouldn't mind helping us out. We've set up a base not too far from here, and you'd just hang out there and be some extra muscle if we ever needed it."

Frigimon sighed and leaned back against the cave wall. "Hmm, well I suppose I can't say no to a chance to pay them back for everything they've done. Why, just last week I caught a skirmish right outside my cave between Mojyamon and some Betsumon! It's unbelievable; how much do you want to bet that Betsumon doesn't even know why he's fighting?"

Gabumon blinked. "Why wouldn't he?"

"Because digimon never know why they're fighting when some more powerful digimon is telling them to they just do it. Makes me sick… Oh by the way, Matt, I heard about your brother."

Tai practically choked on his fish, but Matt put on his best frustrated face and sighed, "What can you do? If he wants to be an idiot, I say let him."

'_It must run in the family,'_ Tai thought,_ 'I don't know how they lie that easily.' _The brunette laughed nervously and added, "Yeah, it's a shame he's gone bad…"

Luckily Frigimon didn't notice his bad acting and continued, "So it's true then? Wow, he was less than yay high the last time I saw him. I couldn't imagine meeting up with him in battle."

Tai gulped down the last of his fish. "Yeah…"

Matt coughed to clear his throat but couldn't bring himself to say anything. He'd been avoiding the thought of having to face his brother in a battle.

000

"Davis!"

"Mojyamon, for the last time I am not messaging your feet!"

"No, look!" He pointed in the sky to what appeared to be a falling star. Davis squinted up at it. It appeared to be growing bigger.

"It's coming this way! Everyone, move!" Davis yelped as he shoved Veemon and himself out of the way.

The flaming rock slammed into the ground causing the snow to go flying as all of the digimon there who had been hanging out outside the base to go scrambling in fear. He caught sight of a bunch of Meramon coming their way through the trees. With a quick prayer that they didn't light those trees on fire, he cried, "Stop running! This is what we were going to train you for! Ugh, STAY HERE IF YOU'RE TIRED OF GETTING PUSHED AROUND BY THESE GUYS!"

A handful of digimon stopped at that. A select few had already been standing and ready to fight. A few more filed out of the base, and Davis looked around at his rag-tag army with a strange sense of pride.

He ducked back behind a tree stump while whipping out his digivice. His eyes met Veemon's who nodded determinedly.

'_They're already attacking? We've barely even started training! We'll just have to give them everything we've got!'_

* * *

Thanks so much for reading :)


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